Lukaku double gets United off to perfect start

ROMELU Lukaku introduced himself to Old Trafford in triumphant fashion with two goals as Manchester United crushed West Ham United 4-0 in an impressive Premier League opener on Sunday.

The Belgium striker, a £75 million ($97.6 million, 82.5 million euros) signing from Everton, struck either side of half-time to take his tally of goals against West Ham to 11 in his last 11 appearances.

"To play in front of such a crowd is a dream come true but most importantly is the three points," he said.

"When you play for Manchester United, you have a job to do and mine is to score goals. It is promising.

"The manager wants me to be a leader for the team and create as much as I can. We work hard in training and it is paying off.

"The fans want to see attractive football and we have to stick to that. They will be pleased today.

"It is just the start, we need to keep working to the manager's plan."

Substitute Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba added late goals that gave a true reflection of United's dominance and sent Jose Mourinho's side to the top of the early-season standings on goal difference.

United join Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur on maximum points and while West Ham offered scant resistance, the early signs suggest Mourinho's men will not end the season 24 points off the pace again.

"We did not start especially well, we looked nervous but then we put in a quality performance," Mourinho said.

"A word that I like is confidence, they played with confidence and played football. It was a very positive performance."

While Lukaku took the headlines, Nemanja Matic also enjoyed an assured home debut following his £40 million switch from Chelsea and there were strong showings from Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford as well.

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic, who gave league debuts to Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez, will hope for better when his side visit Southampton next weekend.

Having opened his account in Tuesday's UEFA Super Cup loss to Real Madrid in Macedonia, Lukaku now has three goals in two United games.

In the other game last-season's runners-up Spurs defeated 10-man Newcastle United 2-0 at St James' Park.

The newly promoted Newcastle had Jonjo Shelvey sent off three minutes after a scoreless first half for stamping on Dele Alli's leg.

The visitors then took control with Alli sliding home from Christian Eriksen's cross before setting up Ben Davies for a second.

Harry Kane should have added a third goal but hit the post with only goalkeeper